Saturday, May 23, 2009

Capt. Fielding Featherstone III. I wore a POW bracelet for years, with his name it. I searched for years on the Internet and here is some info on him.


FEATHERSTON, FIELDING WESLEY III
Name: Fielding Wesley Featherston III
Rank/Branch: Captain/US Air Force

Unit: 555th Tactical Fighter Squadron
Udorn Airfield, Thailand

Date of Birth: 03 December 1942

Home of Record: Wickliffe, OH

Date of Loss: 30 December 1969

Country of Loss: Laos

Loss Coordinates: 195900N 1032900E (UH413101)
Click coordinates to view maps

Status in 1973: Missing In Action

Category: 2

Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4D "Phantom II"

Other Personnel in Incident: Douglas D. Ferguson (missing)


REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: The McDonnell F4 Phantom used by Air Force, Marine and Navy air wings served a multitude of functions including fighter/bomber, interceptor, photo/electronic surveillance, and reconnaissance. The two man aircraft was extremely fast (Mach 2) and had a long range, 900 - 2300 miles depending on stores and mission type. The F4 was also extremely maneuverable and handled well at low and high altitudes. It was selected for a number of state-of-the-art electronics conversions, which improved radar intercept and computer bombing capabilities enormously. Most pilots considered it one of the "hottest" planes around.

On 30 December 1969, Capt. Fielding W. Featherston III, pilot, and 1st Lt. Douglas D. Ferguson, co-pilot, comprised the crew of an F4D, call sign "Loredo 03," mission identifier: Barrel Roll. Their intended target was a petroleum/oil/lubricant (POL) facility located in the heavily forested, mountainous area of Xiangkhouang Province, Laos. This region was under the complete control of North Vietnamese Army (NVA) forces. Further, this area of Laos was considered a major supplier of POL products for the communist war effort. It was located in close proximity to the infamous Ho Chi Minh Trail. When North Vietnam began to increase its military strength in South Vietnam, NVA and Viet Cong troops again intruded on neutral Laos for sanctuary, as the Viet Minh had done during the war with the French some years before. This border road was used by the Communists to transport weapons, supplies and troops from North Vietnam into South Vietnam, and was frequently no more than a path cut through the jungle covered mountains. US forces used all assets available to them to stop this flow of men and supplies from moving south into the war zone.

At 1700 hours Capt. Featherston and Capt. Ferguson arrived in the target area. The on site Forward Air Controller (FAC) directed them to strafe the target. An RF4C also participating in this mission arrived in time to observe Loredo 03 pulling off target, then watched as they made another pass on the POL facility. The crew of the RF4C then saw Fielding Featherston and Doug Ferguson's aircraft attempt a third ordnance delivery run and impact the ground approximately ¼ mile beyond the target resulting in an explosion and large fireball. The other aircrews in the area did not see any ground fire directed at Loredo 03. Likewise, they did not see the crew eject which they attributed in part to shadows cast by trees in and around the site. An electronic search was immediately initiated, but with negative results.

On 31 December, a visual, photographic and electronic search of the loss area was conducted. The wreckage was located approximately 25 kilometers southwest of Houamuang, 500 meters north-northwest of Nakhang.
http://www.taskforceomegainc.org/F062.htm

3 comments:

Cindy said...

Juliet, great post...thank you for reminding us, I'm going to get out my bracelet and wear it this weekend.

juliet said...

I don't know what happened to mine. I remember we had a bad typhoon in 76, and just a few days before we started moving stuff over to the new house. Dean's Circle was totally trashed. Windows blew out and tons of water was inside. After that we threw all our remaining stuff out and bought every thing new. I have some pictures from that time I will eventually get them on here.
I still think about Capt. Featherstone. He has such a fine name.

Joanna said...

I agree. I hope you find him or his family.I noticed that your Dad served during the Korean War.My Dad did also as a Captain in the Air Force.He had nightmares for years.He and everyone else had to shoot throughout the nights.Just terrible to see the aftermath.At least I felt he was scarred for life.God Bless them all!!!